So Long at the Fair
| language = English French | budget = | preceded_by = | followed_by = | website = }} So Long at the Fair is a 1950 British thriller film directed by Terence Fisher and Anthony Darnborough, and starring Jean Simmons and Dirk Bogarde. It was adapted from the 1947 novel of the same name by Anthony Thorne. The story "Maybe You Will Remember" told in Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories 3 and the episode "Into Thin Air" of the TV show Alfred Hitchcock Presents were based on the same story. The title derives from the nursery rhyme "Oh Dear! What Can the Matter Be?" Plot In 1889, young Englishwoman Vicky Barton (Jean Simmons) and her brother Johnny (David Tomlinson) arrive in Paris to see the Exposition Universelle. This is Vicky's first time in Paris, and after checking into a hotel, she drags her tired brother to dinner and the famous Moulin Rouge. She finally retires for the night, while Johnny has a late-night drink. When English painter George Hathaway (Dirk Bogarde) drops off his girlfriend, Rhoda O'Donovan (Honor Blackman), and her mother (Betty Warren) at the hotel, he asks Johnny for change for a 100 franc note to pay a carriage driver; Johnny loans him 50 francs and gives him his name and room number. The next morning, Vicky finds a blank wall where Johnny's room used to be. When she questions hotel owner and manager Madame Hervé (Cathleen Nesbitt), the latter claims she arrived alone. The room number now adorns the common bathroom. Madame Hervé's brother Narcisse (Marcel Pontin) and the day porter (Eugene Deckers) back up her story. Frantic, Vicky goes to see the British consul (Felix Aylmer), followed secretly by Narcisse. She has no proof of her brother's existence, so the consul can only suggest she find a witness, Nina (Zena Marshall), the hotel maid who attended her. Nina had informed her that she was going up in a balloon with her boyfriend at the Exposition that day, so the consul takes her there. Tragically, she is too late. Before she can talk to Nina, the balloon ascends, bursts into flames, and plummets to the ground, killing the two passengers. Vicky tries the French police commissaire (Austin Trevor). He questions Madame Hervé and her brother, but can find nothing amiss in their story. Since her room has been reserved for only two nights, Vicky has to leave the hotel. Madame Hervé offers her a ticket home to England, which she is forced to accept, as she has little money left. However, unbeknownst to either party, Rhoda O'Donovan has been asked by George Hathaway to deliver a letter containing his loan repayment to Johnny. Not finding his room, Rhoda slips the envelope under Vicky's door, where she finds it. Vicky goes to see George. When he confirms having met her brother, she bursts into tears. He offers his assistance. George notices there are six balconies, but only five rooms on the floor, and finds the missing hotel room, the entrance having been covered over to be part of the wall. Under questioning by the police, Madame Hervé reveals where Johnny has been taken. It turns out that he became sick with the Black Plague during the night. The news would have been disastrous for the Exposition, so he was secretly taken away to a hospital. George brings along Doctor Hart (André Morell), who tells Vicky her brother has a chance of living. Cast *Jean Simmons as Vicky Barton *Dirk Bogarde as George Hathaway *David Tomlinson as Johnny Barton *Marcel Poncin as Narcisse *Cathleen Nesbitt as Madame Hervé *Honor Blackman as Rhoda O'Donovan *Betty Warren as Mrs. O'Donovan *Zena Marshall as Nina *Eugene Deckers as Day Porter *Felix Aylmer as British Consul *André Morell as Doctor Hart *Austin Trevor as Police Commissaire *Natasha Sokolova as Charlotte *Nelly Arno as Madame Verni Music The music, by Benjamin Frankel, includes a sequence accompanying a ride in a carriage which went on to become a popular light concert item under the title Carriage and Pair. Trivia * The plot of the film is based on an urban legend. The original features a mother and daughter; the mother is ill, and the doctor sends the daughter across town to his house to get medicine from his wife. When she returns, the doctor and hotel staff insist that she arrived alone and that they have never seen her mother. When the daughter goes up to her mother's room, the furnishings and decor are different. * Apart from the conversations between the Commissioner and Madame Hervé, the French characters converse with each other in French, which is not subtitled. External links * *[http://filmfanatic.org/reviews/?p=1003 So Long at the Fair at Film Fanatic] *[http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.jsp?cid=159333&mainArticleId=159329 So Long at the Fair at Turner Classic Movies] *The Vanishing Hotel Room on Urban Legends Reference Pages (snopes.com) Category:1950 films Category:British films Category:British mystery films Category:British thriller films Category:English-language films Category:Films directed by Terence Fisher Category:Films based on urban legends Category:Pinewood Studios films Category:1950 Category:Film Category:Non-Universal Film Category:Riverdales - Mental Retard